Hay-on-Wye, Wales:
A Passion for the Printed Word

Photos and article by Eleanor S. Morris

HAY-ON-WYE, Wales - On the border between England and Wales there's a small town with a very large claim to fame. Tucked between the Black Mountains of Wales and the Wye River, the town of Hay-on-Wye boasts that it is the book capital of the world.

Not only are the small towns narrow streets lined with book shops, there's a castle there, too, a Norman castle, also crammed with antiquarian and second-hand books. This passion for the printed word is that of Richard Booth, an Oxford graduate who scoured Britain for every volume he could get his hands on. He began with a small bookstore in one of the town's empty shops, which is the state the town was in some forty years ago.

But Booth believed that there is a buyer for every book, and that belief has certainly been justified. So much so that in 1971 he bought the Norman castle looming above the town, and crowned himself King Richard, Emperor of the Book Towns of the World.

Today the maze of narrow, ancient streets, are filled with more than thirty-five bookshops, with over a million books for sale on any and every conceivable subject. The castle itself is one huge bookstore, with shelves of books lining the inside of the castle walls as well as in the castle itself.

The castle has a place in the romantic history of the town. The Normans built a motte and bailey castle in the early 1100s. It was destroyed by King John in 1216, but according to legend it was rebuilt--in one night!--by the wife of William de Breos, Maud de St. Valery, carrying the stones in her apron. But then along came Prince Llewellyn to set fire to the castle. This went on and on until the 18th and 19th centuries, when a variety of tenants leased the castle. But now, it's owned by Richard Booth who has restored it to its former glory, and home of one of the most imposing bookstores in this town of bookstores.

Thousands of book lovers flock to Hay-on-Wye each year. All through the world, Hay-on-Wye is known as the "Town of Books." Engrossed young and old book bugs pore over romances, biography, literature, mystery, history, any subject--if you can't find a title in Hay-on-Wye it's certain that the book does not even exist.

For more information, contact the Wales Tourist Board from the US at 888-544-0541, or see http://www.visitwales.com

Copyright Eleanor S. Morris